


respite

by The_Eclectic_Bookworm



Series: nowhere else i'd rather be [4]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: BOOM! Buffy the Vampire Slayer Comics, F/M, can y'all BELIEVE i'm writing about CANON EVENTS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-04-11 21:36:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19118158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Eclectic_Bookworm/pseuds/The_Eclectic_Bookworm
Summary: “Jenny,” said Rupert. He put down the map on the counter, tugging on her elbow. She didn’t look at him. “I wanted to thank you. You’ve been…I don’t think there are words for what you’ve been tonight.”(boom comic reboot; set during issue #5. Jenny makes coffee.)





	respite

**Author's Note:**

> i am having ALL kinds of emotions about issue five of the buffy comic reboot. if y'all are looking for calendiles content where jenny calls giles "babe" and giles forgets he doesn't have to call his girlfriend "ms. calendar," fanfiction is no longer the only place to go for that.
> 
> also i would die for jenny calendar's adorable choppy 2019 hair but that's really not news to anyone who knows me.

Jenny had bought Rupert one of those little coffee pod machines about two weeks into their relationship. _An investment,_ she had called it, _in case I start sleeping over_ —and she’d mostly done it to see him get all adorably blushy, but right now, she was feeling kind of grateful for it. Magics like that took a lot out of her; she barely had enough energy to pour water for the coffee.

She started the first cup. Tried not to think about the noises from upstairs, the dead body in Rupert’s apartment, what might happen if the circle was crossed or broken. Happy face, Jenny, you’re the only one who didn’t know Xander well enough to be _really_ fucked up about this—

There was a rustle, and Jenny turned; Rupert had entered the kitchen, map in hand, eyes a little distant.

“Hi,” said Jenny.

“Hi,” said Rupert. He glanced towards the coffee. “I think that’s done.”

“Oh—” Jenny hastened to put it to the side, then got out another cup. “I’ll have to bring these up to the girls,” she said, not quite able to look at him. “And then—I know you’re not a coffee person, do you want tea? I can try and make—”

“Jenny,” said Rupert. He put down the map on the counter, tugging on her elbow. She didn’t look at him. “I wanted to thank you. You’ve been…I don’t think there are words for what you’ve been tonight.”

Jenny did look up at him, then, giving him a small, tired smile. “Someone’s gotta keep their head, right?” she said.

“I quite agree with that,” said Rupert, “but generally the head-keeping is _my_ job. I’d never expect it from my girlfriend.”

Wait. “Did you just say…girlfriend?” said Jenny, feeling her cheeks heat up.

Rupert blinked, looking a little startled with himself. “Um,” he said. “Did I?”

“No, I’m, I’m good with it,” said Jenny, beginning to really smile. “I like it. I mean, I prefer thinking of myself as your _unprofessional liaison—”_

“—you really will never let me forget that I said that, will you—”

“—but girlfriend’s nice,” Jenny finished, bracing her hands against his chest. Somehow, she’d ended up in his arms—and wasn’t that a metaphor for the ages? “Normal.” She gave him a small, wry grin. “We could use a little of that, tonight.”

Rupert smiled slightly. “I don’t know,” he said. “I find myself rather liking how not-normal you are.” At Jenny’s raised eyebrow, he gently elaborated, “Not a lot of people have it in them to…handle…my lifestyle. I’m honestly rather surprised that you can.”

“You shouldn’t be,” said Jenny. “I’m pretty sure this falls under the umbrella of teacherly responsibilities.”

“It _really_ doesn’t,” said Rupert, laughing a little sadly.

Jenny felt her smile fade. “I’m sorry about Xander,” she said. “I didn’t know him super well, but…the way you talked about him, he seemed like a sweet kid.”

“He was,” said Rupert. He wasn’t smiling either. “I don’t know—whatever this goes, however it goes, I don’t think he’ll ever be the same again.”

Something about that made Jenny’s eyes sting with tears. Xander had looked so absurdly _young_ on that bed, so small and fragile, dried blood staining the neck of his white t-shirt. A town like this—a town that killed kids so indiscriminately, so _mercilessly—_

“Jenny,” Rupert whispered, his voice breaking, and gathered her fully into his arms, burying his face in her hair. Jenny bit her lip; she _couldn’t_ let those girls hear her cry. It didn’t seem fair. “Jenny, I’m so sorry for—”

“If you say _anything_ along the lines of _dragging me into this,_ we’re through,” Jenny said fiercely, resting her cheek against his chest. His heartbeat soothed her—the rhythm of it reminding her that the both of them were still _alive._

“I think,” said Rupert softly, “that my apology was more along the lines of _hurting you.”_

“That’s not your fault.”

“I’m still sorry for it.”

Jenny pulled back, just a little, to look at him with dawning comprehension. “This isn’t your fault,” she said, and when Rupert couldn’t meet her eyes, she knew she’d hit the nail on the head. “Rupert—”

“I am responsible for these children,” said Rupert unsteadily. “I am responsible for teaching them how to take care of themselves. I have been training Xander and Willow, but clearly my training has all been for naught.”

“Rupert, you _couldn’t_ have stopped this.”

“Couldn’t I?”

Moonlight was streaming in through the kitchen window, casting Rupert’s face half in shadow. She had never seen him in this light before; not weighed down by the responsibilities of looking after the kids. The kids had been dinner conversation, loving, laughing anecdotes on his part— _Jenny, did you know, Willow said the most extraordinary thing today? Jenny, I really think Xander could do with some extra academic help, I’m going to try and convince him to look into tutoring. Jenny, Buffy killed seven vampires on patrol, I’ve never seen anything like it—_

“No,” she said. “No, you couldn’t have. Because if you could have, I _know_ it wouldn’t have happened.”

Rupert looked a bit like he might cry. “Would that I could absolve myself as easily as _that—”_ he said, and then he wasn’t saying anything else, because Jenny was pulling him into a kiss. He drew in a soft, gasping breath—almost a sob—and kissed her back with tender urgency, a slow, soft kiss that neither of them felt ready to pull away from for even a second.

Finally, reluctantly, Jenny pulled back to look at him.

“I don’t know what I’d have done if you weren’t here,” said Rupert, his voice breaking. “I’d never have called you in for this. I’m so glad you stayed the night, I’m so glad you’re in my _life—_ ”

“Babe, it’s okay,” Jenny whispered, standing on tiptoe to rub her nose against his.

“Jenny, the coffee’s probably cold,” said Rupert miserably. “You’ll have to—to heat it up, or make a new pod, I do _not_ understand that machine—”

“Took you long enough to figure out the Netflix queue,” said Jenny, trying to smile.

Rupert smiled too, a sad, quavering smile that made Jenny’s heart ache. “I really don’t like any part of tonight,” he said. “But I am so—Jenny, I am _so_ grateful to you for staying.”

He didn’t sound like he was just talking about this one night, Jenny thought. But that was good, because when she said, “I’ll stay as long as you need me,” she wasn’t talking about just this one night either.


End file.
